STREET KINGS
'STREET KINGS' Is a Brutal, Fist-In-Your-Face of a Movie That Manages to Balance Everything Out Pretty Well
STREET KINGS-R-2008-109mins. Stars Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Jay Mohr, COMMON, THE GAME Directed by David Ayer
Rating-*** Street Kings is an intense crime drama about police corruption and the controversy of how far cops should go to get the job done. It comes from the writer of Training Day and is similar in many ways, the most obvious being the main character, a rogue cop with questionable methods played by Keanu Reeves. He’s the flawed hero here, a hard drinking, troubled man who will do whatever it takes to get the bad guys as we see in the very first scene of the movie- a bloody shootout where ultimately a kidnapped child is recovered and all the perps are wiped out. Reeves has an ally in the department, Captain Jack Wander (an excellent Forest Whitaker), who will literally do anything to protect his ace cop. Wander has a small group of detectives who follow his every command and always cover for each other. When Reeves’ former partner (whom he’s recently had a falling out with) ends up getting brutally murdered at a convenient store (with Reeves inside, as a witness) questions start popping up and so does an Internal Affairs investigator (a charming Hugh Laurie), who informs Reeves that Captain Wander and his team are going down. The question is-what side does Reeves want to stand on? It turns out that the corruption runs much deeper than anyone could ever imagine and the people behind it will do anything to save face…and their asses. This is a nice, solid action film with plenty of brutal violence, chases, shootouts , suspense and even a good dose of humor (provided by Cedric the Entertainer, as a small time drug addict criminal). The topic of corruption and police brutality is ultimately answered in an obvious way by the end of the film and we know which way the filmmaker’s swing on that subject. The ending of the film is very well done and well played by both Whitaker and Reeves and ultimately it comes out being a bit ironic with Laurie showing up to ‘save the day’. I enjoyed this film, it’s lightening paced, well made, well acted and entertaining so what more can you ask for? Substance? Character development? Not here. But it is an action film and that’s exactly what you get here - your money’s worth.
